Big Year 2017

Tuesday, 7 April 2015

Birding April Third

Sora

With an angry looking sky displaying its many shades of grey
suggesting rain was imminent, and with I fighting off a cold, I was ready for
my first early morning birding excursion in more than a month.I had all my bases covered; my camera was
packed away from the night before with an empty memory card installed and for
the cold I took two teaspoons of cough syrup followed by some vitamin C.I was so hyped that I even considered taking
some of my wife’s concoction of Garlic and Ginger which was sitting in the
refrigerator, but I regained my sanity just in time when the smell hit my
nostrils and left it where it was. It
was quite chilly outside, so I protected myself with three layers of shirts, packed
my breakfast and was out through the door.

I had arranged the night before to meet Dr. John Webster at
6am to bird two locations in the south of the island, first a Private Swamp,
which he has permission to visit, and the cliffs where the Red-billed
Tropicbirds are nesting.

The Private Swamp

Remains of Common Gallinulekilled by Peregine

This is probably one of the best birding locations on the
island. It consisted of many small ponds
which provide varying habitats for different birds.At the first pond we saw a few bird species
including five Soras, a few Blue-winged Teals and a very sleepy Pied-billed
Grebe. The Soras were very tolerant of
our presence and allowed us to photograph them foraging on the banks and in the
shallow parts of the pond. Flying around a few of the ponds were Swallows,
mainly Barn Swallows, but we also saw a small Swallow with a white belly,
square tail, a brownish rump and a white forehead. Dr. Webster identified it as a Cliff Swallow with
which my Birds of the West Indies Helm Field Guide concurred. The Cliff Swallow was a first for me for the
year. A Caribbean Coot which was first
sighted in January was still around and the family of Grebes which included
three chicks was growing well.Dr.
Webster also showed me the carcass of a Common Gallinule that was killed by a
Peregrine Falcon. He described the attack
as relentless. He said the Raptor never
tried to feed on the bird and continued attacking until he was sure the bird
was dead and then flew off. We spent two
hours there and saw thirty one species of birds.

The Tropicbirds
Cliff

We arrived at our second location for birding at 9am. The sky was still overcast and grey but the
lighting was much better for photography.As I exited my vehicle I could hear the familiar calls of the Grassland
Yellow Finch.As I walked along the
grassy path to the cliffs where the Tropicbirds nested, I saw a Grassland Finch
jump from just in front of me, on further inspection I found a nest with three
eggs. I took a few photos of the nest
and moved away to allow the bird to return to its

nest.As I reached the cliffs looking over the sea,
I noticed two Tropicbirds to the right of where I was standing. Soon afterward
I saw another to my left. This bird appeared to be searching for a nesting
hole.It continually examined the face
of the cliff as it flew by sometimes hovering or alighting in a hole or on a
ledge for closer inspection.It was at
this point that I realized I was not as prepared as I thought. My camera battery died. I forgot to charge the battery the night
before. I swapped the camera for a pair
of binoculars and continued to watch this bird work. It appeared that he found a hole that was
pleasing; he landed to check it out and then flew off into the Horizon. We spent thirty to forty five minutes at that
location.

Red-billed Tropicbird on a ledge

The April 3rd, trip to the south recorded
thirty-six species of birds with one being a first for the year for me. See the
table below for the checklist and click
this link to view the photographs from that day.